DIY Kiting Projects for Winter

Make your own Hydrofoil, Twintip or Surfboard this winter!

Kiteboarding equipment doesn’t have to be built from state of the art materials to get you out on the water! Winter is a great time to dust off the tools and get your hands dirty, making something fun to test out once the wind returns. Seabreeze.com.au community members are building all kinds of things from scratch, and you can too!

Don’t be deterred by the triple carbon, biaxial prepreg layups that the kite brands describe in their promo material. A twintip can be made in a few evenings work from a piece of plywood and some epoxy – so can a hydrofoil! Or, if waves are your thing, perhaps it’s time you tried shaping your own surfboard? With todays technology and materials becoming easily accessible, combined with the support from the Seabreeze.com.au Community members in the forums – you might just surprise yourself at what you can make.

Here’s three ideas for a winter DIY project that will have you frothing for summer to come around.

Build a Twintip

Working with fiberglass isn’t a black art, and these days you get get your hands on some cloth and resin online, with cheap shipping right to your door. It’s not expensive either, with the materials to shape a couple of twintips costing less than $150! You will need some basic tools like a jigsaw, electric sander and a drill, plus a few disposable cups, paint brushes and mixing sticks for the resin. That’s it! For a rundown on the construction techniques and some inspirational build threads, check these out.

Build your own Hydrofoil

Although they look like they require a degree in aerodynamics and engineering to construct, a hydrofoil can be made from materials as simple as a skateboard deck and some pine. Due to the high cost of buying a production hydrofoil, builders have been cooking up foils in their sheds for years now! The good news, is that even crudely constructed foils will give you that feeling, as long as they’re strong enough. Recommended tools in addition to those above, are some carbon cloth, and possibly a home made vacuum bagging setup.

Shape your own surfboard

If blokes could shape surfboards back in the 70’s in a shed, with nothing more than a hand plane and some resin – you can certainly do it now! With 40 years of technology behind you, shaping a surfboard is well within the realms of the average joe. Search online to find a surfboard blank, fin boxes and leggy plug; buy some PU resin, a mask and some fiberglass cloth, spend a couple nights reading - and get to work. Sure, you’ll go to bed each night with foam shavings in your hair, and the smell of PU resin in your nostrils, but when you’re paddling out (or kiting out) through the break on a surfboard you made yourself, it will all be worth it!

Surfboards don’t have to be made from foam blanks either, stacks of community members have made surfboards from Paulownia. Some have even made super cool Alaias for kiting on!